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Brewers shoot for rare series victory over Reds

Jul 9, 2011 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - With a pair of one-run victories over the Reds, the Brewers hope they have finally turned the tables in a series that Cincinnati has dominated for nearly two years.

Maybe even more importantly, the wins also have Milwaukee alone atop the National League Central.

Tonight, the Brewers hope to secure their first series victory over the Reds since May of 2009 in the third contest of a four-game series between the clubs at Miller Park.

After enduring a 1-7 stretch that kept things tight in the division, Milwaukee began its recent turnaround with a victory over Arizona on Wednesday. The Brewers captured Thursday's opener after holding off a late Reds rally, then completed a comeback of their own last night to claim an 8-7 victory that gave the club a one-game edge over both the Cardinals and Pirates for first place. The Reds, meanwhile, fell four games off the pace.

Filling in for an injured Ryan Braun, who missed his sixth straight game with a strained left calf, Mark Kotsay played the hero twice. He initially put Milwaukee ahead with a solo homer in the sixth inning before the Reds countered for three runs in the bottom of the frame. The outfielder then finished off another rally with a walk-off two-run single, with a pinch- running Carlos Gomez scoring the deciding run from second.

"You need a bazooka to throw [Gomez] out on that ball, that's why they put him out there," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It seems like they can find a way to get that two-out hit."

Milwaukee had dropped 23 of its previous 29 games versus the Reds, including seven of nine this season, before this series and will now try to capture its first set from Cincinnati since a three-game sweep at home from May 29-31, 2009.

That was made possible thanks to Francisco Cordero blowing back-to-back save chances for the first time since September. The Reds closer allowed an RBI triple to Nyjer Morgan before loading the bases prior to Kotsay's at-bat.

Rickie Weeks recorded an inside-the-park home run and added an RBI double for the Brewers.

"We really played a good ballgame. Even if the outcome was different I thought we played well," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said.

Joey Votto and Jay Bruce both homered for the Reds, who have lost four of five overall and fell to 13-20 in one-run games this season.

Shaun Marcum goes for his first victory in five starts as he toes the rubber for the Brewers.

Marcum connected on his first career homer, a grand slam, on Monday versus the Diamondbacks, but got a no-decision after yielding four runs over six innings as Milwaukee blew an early lead. Though Marcum went deep, he also gave up a pair of homers and has allowed five long balls over his winless stretch (0-1).

The 29-year-old right-hander is 7-3 with a 3.32 earned run average in 18 starts and will face the Reds for the third time this season. He struggled with his command in his Brewers debut at Cincinnati on April 2, allowing four runs -- three earned -- on four hits and five walks over 4 2/3 innings.

Marcum was a bit sharper the next time he faced the Reds -- again in Cincinnati -- on June 1, hurling seven innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts in a no-decision.

Johnny Cueto hopes that his bad luck hasn't followed him to Milwaukee, where he tries to pick up a victory this evening.

Cueto is coming off his second complete game of the season on Monday versus the Cardinals, but both have been one-run losses. The right-hander hurled eight innings of one-run ball even though he didn't strikeout a batter for the first time in 26 starts, but St. Louis' Chris Carpenter did him one better with eight scoreless frames.

"That was as good as you're going to see. Both of them were dealing," Baker said about Carpenter and Cueto.

Despite allowing two runs or less for the sixth time in his last seven starts, Cueto fell to 5-3 on the year with a 1.77 ERA in 11 outings. The 25-year-old will square off with the Brewers for the ninth time in his career looking to improve on a 2-2 mark and 4.24 ERA against them.